Uncyclopedia:Ban Policy

From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia

It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow, unless they don't want to, in which case they are free to ignore it, in which case nobody will care. Please make use of the standing on one knee position to propose to this policy.

As a wiki that anyone can edit, Uncyclopedia is occasionally edited disruptively. Admins have the job of preserving Uncyclopedia so that it is attractive to read (and occasionally even funny), but in a way that contributes to its future success. A published Ban Policy gives clarity and ensures Uncyclopedians that the treatment they receive has a written justification and is not based on interpersonal issues with the banning Admin.

Read this before you do that.

Contents

Do ban

Given a disruptive edit, Admins have to make an initial decision about the good faith of the editor, keeping in mind that some of our best talent started their lives as trolls. The Admin should act with tolerance and communication if there is a possibility that the editor simply does not know how Uncyclopedia works or that he is making crappy edits.

Registering as an Uncyclopedian (picking a user name) merits a presumption of good faith and a post to the new talk page rather than a ban as the first response. (However, if the new Uncyclopedian's first "contribution" is to upload porno, the Admin may assume the user only registered to gain access to Special:Upload, and ban his ass.)

As an example of the other extreme, edits featuring obscenities and racial slurs, and borderline-incoherent edits leading directly to the posting of someone else's website, are hints that the editor did not arrive to make positive contributions and will never care to learn how to do so.

A bad edit applied to a specific user's pages or articles may indicate ill will and not just ineptitude, in which case it is time for the ban-stick. Likewise, a bad edit in the Uncyclopedia: or Template: namespaces shows intent to disrupt the website and not just tell a joke that isn't funny.

Unwillingness to learn from explanation on the user talk page means a ban may be expedient to show the user that he must follow the explanation.

Don't ban

Bans should not be a result of creative disagreements. These happen all the time on the wiki, and everyone should learn to handle them with civility and not drama. (A ban is necessarily drama.) A registered Uncyclopedian should be taught to discuss the disagreement with the other editor, and if necessary, ask an active Admin to arbitrate. However, if the user has been taught the ropes and still engages in revert-warring, it is time to ban him.

How to ban

How to ban an Uncyclopedian

Registered Uncyclopedians deserve a clear reason for any ban. If you gave a fuller explanation on the user's talk page, make sure your Summary references it.

Registering with a user name that is obscene, provocative, or fraudulent should get a perma-ban, but be sure to uncheck the ban on the user's IP and use the Summary to tell the user he is free to pick a less offensive name.

How to unban an Uncyclopedian

Any ban can have its length changed, or can be removed. In most cases when you ban an Uncyclopedian, you also ban the IP address he is using. When removing this ban, go to Special:Ipblocklist and find the ban on the IP address that was imposed at the same time. Remove that ban as well or the Uncyclopedian won't be able to resume editing.

How to ban an anonymous user

An anonymous user:check the eyes, not the writing on the bag.

When an anonymous user disrupts the wiki, you can ban that IP address. This is an imprecise way to prevent that person from editing. Many vandals can easily obtain a different address and continue editing. If a specific page is the target, it sometimes works better to use the Change protection tab to "semi-protect" the page. This restricts editing to registered Uncyclopedians, excluding brand-new user names.

Not only can one person have several IP addresses, but one IP address can have several persons. This includes specific seats at a public library, and the rare case where someone obtains an IP address whose previous owner got banned. For this reason, it usually doesn't make sense to ban Anon for more than 3 months. However, if you look at his Contributions and see he has a very long rap sheet consisting of the same sort of disruption, perma-ban the IP address.

How to ban a troll

Some anonymous editors vandalize Uncyclopedia only to get people to pay attention to them and make people angry. In these cases, it is best not to give a clear reason, nor especially a piece of the Admin's mind, even with the certainty that yours will be the last word. The best job of name-calling in the Ban Reason only rewards the vandal ("feeds the troll") and encourages more vandalism.

Instead, use the stock "Blanker" or "Vandal" legend from the drop-down menu at Special:Block. It has the added advantage that, if the banned user clicks on the link, he will get the tutorial at UN:VIP that explains to him how much less time we spent undoing his "contribution" than he spent making it.

How to serve a ban

Being banned means ceasing to participate in the life of Uncyclopedia for the duration of the ban. Specifically, coming back to create a different user name (a sockpuppet) violates this principle, as well as the assumption that different user names are really different people. Ban evasion and sockpuppetry violate the basic notion of order and are subject to harsher bans, no matter whether the ban-ee is trying to perform an edit he was prevented from doing in a different identity or merely to get the final word. Ban evasion includes editing talk pages as an IP during the duration of the ban if your username has been banned.

Uncyclopedians in good standing should not let themselves be pressed into service to let banned users continue participating despite their ban.

But I'm innocent

Check back and see if you are still banned in one hour, or one day. Most of the time, if it was a mistake, it will be reversed by the admin that banned you within the same day. DO NOT try to post on an admin's talk page or even your own talk page, as an IP (anonymous editor) to discuss the ban - this is regarded as ban evasion (which is a bannable offense that will increase the length of your ban). If you are not unbanned in one day, try to figure out why - read everything in our "Ignorable" policies category while you serve out your ban. DO NOT ask your friends to come on Uncyclopedia and start drama (such as starting a forum to deop the admin that banned you) - this will make things worse, and may result in an infiniban. If you still truly feel your ban was unfair after reading the policies, and must appeal while you are banned, Wikia is available for help. Oftentimes, when banning users, admins will leave a talk page message about why the user was banned. PAY ATTENTION to this message, should you have received one. If you haven't received one, perhaps you didn't bother to register on the site or
sign in before editing. Although we permit anonymous editing, we don't generally leave explanations on anonymous user's talk pages, because the same IP address may be used by different people.

They are a core part of this site, and every visitor to this site sees them(or should).

Vandalism (minor)

1st: warn, 2nd: 1 hour to ?

It's to your own judgment what this constitutes: noobish bad edits, user boredom, immaturity, or bad judgment rather than showing intention to do a lot of damage. Notify user on their talk page. Vandalism on first edit may result in 2 week ban.

Includes deleting sections, changing the headings of pages being voted on, changing other people's votes or comments.

Voting page Disruption

1 week to 1 month depending on severity

Ranting, baiting, excessive off-topic commentary, deleting sections, changing the headings of pages being voted on, changing other people's votes or comments. Includes the Noob, Writer, Uncyclopedian, or Useless Gobshite of the Month awards, in addition to VFP and VFH.